What do I need to consider if an election is held during the annual canvass?
What do I need to consider if an election is held during the annual canvass?
An election during the canvass period may reduce the amount of time you have for follow-up activities for both canvass communications and ITRs.
Your canvass plan and risk register should include details of how you will redeploy resources to target registration in any areas in which an election takes place.
If any of the elections listed below, including general or by elections, are held between 1 July and 1 December, you will need to make a decision whether to delay publication of the revised register and, if so, by how much.
In these circumstances publication of the revised register can be postponed up to 1 February the following year.
UK Parliamentary elections
Local government – unitary, county, county borough, district, metropolitan borough, London borough and directly elected mayoral elections
Local government – parish elections
Greater London Authority elections
Police and Crime Commissioner elections
Neighbourhood planning referendums
The impact of any election may depend on which stage of the canvass you are at and how many polling districts are affected by the election.
You will need to be satisfied that you will have sufficient time to take all necessary steps to ensure your registers are as accurate and complete as possible by the time of publication.
In reaching your decision you should consider the impact that postponing the publication of the revised register may have on canvass processes.
For example, where publication of the revised register is postponed, personal canvassing may take place later in the year where reduced daylight hours may impact on the willingness of canvassers to knock on, and non-responders to open, their doors. Inclement weather may also impact a later canvass, and response rates may reduce over the festive period.
Where you decide to postpone publication due to an election, you should take steps to make local political parties and elected representatives aware of the changed register publication date at an early stage.
As detailed in the guidance for monthly notices of alteration during the canvass period, there is no requirement to publish a monthly notice of alteration in the month you are publishing the revised register or in the two months before that day, but you may do so if you wish.
Therefore if publication of the revised register has been postponed to, for example, 1 February, you will publish a monthly notice of alteration in October and November; you are not required to publish one in December or January, but you may do so if you wish.